33 respectively presented. The Publicans and harlots, when the Baptist invited them to walk in the way of Righteousness, had said 'We go, Sir,'— and they had actually gone. But the Pharisees, who, (like the first' son in the Parable,) had said 'We will not,' failed to imitate that son in his repentance likewise. Nay, though they had seen' the obedience of the others, they 'repented not afterward!' Hear another parable: There was a certain Householder, which planted a Vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: The owner of a Vineyard was careful to encircle his property with 'a hedge,' (which probably denotes a stone wall;) the object being not so much to prevent those that pass by the way' from 'plucking,' as to protect the fruit from the incursions of foxes, and of wild boars. The wine-press' was placed above the winefat,'which consisted of a pit dug in the earth and lined with masonry, or hewn out of the solid rock. The 'Tower' was for protection. He who dwelt there was expected to keep watch over the Vineyard. Concerning the mystical interpretation of the present parable, the Reader is referred to the notes on St. Mark xii. 1 to 8. GOD of course is b Song of Solomon ii. 15. c Ps. lxxx. 13. d St. Mark xii. 1. the Husbandman, and His Church is the Vineyard, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant.' And when the time of the fruit drew near, 34 he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the 35 husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. They beat one,-as Jeremiah; and stoned another, as Zechariah the son of Jehoiadaf. Again, he sent other servants more than 36 the first; and they did unto them likewise. Very apposite is the language of the Old Testament itself to the transactions here related in the way of parable. "I sent unto you" (says the Great Householder), ."all My Servants the Prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate." "Nevertheless," (exclaims a righteous member of the same nation,) "they were disobedient and rebelled. against Thee, and cast Thy Law behind their backs, and slew Thy Prophets which testified against them to turn them to Thee: and they wrought great provocations." But last of all he sent unto them his Son, 37 saying, They will reverence my Son. This is said, not with reference to GoD's Foreknowledge, but to Man's Free-will. GoD declares e Jer. xx. 1 to 6, &c. f 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21. Jer. xliv. 4. Neh. ix. 26,-quoted by Trench. See also Dan. ix. 6, 10, &c. 38 hereby what ought to be. Men ought to have reverenced His SON. But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said among themselves, This is the Heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize 39 on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the Vineyard, and slew 40 him. When the Lord therefore of the Vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those 41 husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his Vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in 42 their seasons. JESUS saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the LORD's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? He asks them whether they had never read the Prophecy concerning MESSIAH in Psalm cxviii.,where He is spoken of as a Stone, which was rejected indeed by the Builders, (even as the Heir of the Vineyard was rejected by the Husbandmen,) but which became the Head of the corner.' By His further reference to Isaiah, (in verse 44,) He teaches them that utter destruction will prove the consequence of their wicked conduct. See more in the note on St. Mark xii. 11. Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom 43 of GOD shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 'In their Seasons,'-as those miserable men, uttering a terrible prophecy against themselves, had truly spoken'. Namely, at Advent, Watchfulness and Prayer; at Epiphany, Faith: Humiliation and Repentance during Lent: Newness of Life at Easter: and all the Fruit of the SPIRIT' at Whitsuntide. And whosoever shall fall on this Stone 44 shall be broken: but on whomsoever It shall fall, It will grind him to powder. That is,-He shall experience sore injury to whomsoever the Doctrine of CHRIST crucified proves a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.' To reject Him, is to be broken. But the man on whom CHRIST, after years of longsuffering patience, shall execute judgment, will be utterly destroyed thereby; will become 'like the chaff of the summer threshing floors1.' Our LORD's allusion in the first words of verse 44, to what is written in Isaiah viii. 15, is unmistakeable. The latter part of the sentence recals an ancient Greek proverb :-'The mill-stones of k Gal. v. 22, 23. i See above, ver. 41. 1 Dan. ii. 35. m A remarkable portion of prophecy, truly; for, from Is. viii. 12 to 18, there are no less than five places quoted or referred to in distinct places of the New Testament, viz. 1 St. Pet. iii. 14, 15: Rom. ix. 33 and 1 St. Pet. ii. 8: Heb. ii. 13, (two quotations): and the present place. 45 Heaven grind the corn slowly; but they grind it to very powder.' And when the Chief Priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived 46 that He spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him for a Prophet. Accordingly, they left Him and went their way" but in what a temper and disposition of mind, the subsequent History best shews. They thirsted for His blood; and gladly accepted the offer of Judas to betray Him into their hands 'in the absence of the multitude.' The Prayer. FROM all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of Thy Word and Commandment, Good LORD, deliver us. n St. Mark xii. 12. • St. Luke xxii. 6. |